Leaning wheel



Jan. 5, 1932. E. c. GLEDHILL 1,839,755

LEANING WHEEL Filed June 5, 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Jan. 5, 1932 o STA estarse EDWARD C. GLEDHILL, 0F GALION, OHIO LEANING WHEEL Application led .Tune 3, 1931. Serial No. 541,326.

- Experience with road grading machinery has demonstrated' the desirability of having the wheels tilted when the machine is at work, so that theywill aid in resisting the. side thrust imposed on the machine, while,

when the machinev is not in operation but is being moved along the road, the wheels should be set verticallyand parallel' with the longitudinal plane of the machine. The i@ present invention has for its object the provision of simple and efficient means whereby the wheels may be brought to the desired position during travel of the machine,"and t-he inventionresides incertain novel fea'- 15 tures which are illustratedl in the accompanying drawingsk and'will lbe hereinafter first fully described and then more particularly defined in the appended claims.

In the drawings, v zol Figure 1 is a rear `elevation of a portion of a road grader having the inventionapplied thereto, and showing the wheels tilted lto the left, Y Y

. Fig. 2 is a top plan view showing the wheels I 25 disposed in vertical planes and parallel with the grader, t

Fig. 3 is an enlarged rear elevation, Fig. 4 is an enlarged section yon ythe line 4-4 of Fig. 3,

'3o Fig. 5 is a detail view of a connection between the crank axle and'the'framelof the grader, and t F ig.A 6 is afront elevation, ona larger scale, of the partsshown in Fig. 5. t s

The road grader may be of any well-known or lapproved type, and illustration of the same yis unnecessary herein, a portion of a transverse frame bar being indicated at 1 in order that the application of the invention may be vfully comprehended.rv The beam' 1, which is'indicated in the drawings, is a part of the rear end portion of the grader frame, and the rear axle 2 is carried thereby. Rotatably'n'iounted within the beam 1 is a king end of said king bolt is a supplemental frame v4 in the :form of an arched bar having an open bracket 5 secured thereto and ldepending' therefrom at its' center, said bracket spanning the king bolt, as shown vin Figs'l and 3, and

bolt or pivot 3, andk carried by the lower at the lower end of said bracket is a. half bearing. 6 mating with a similar halfbearing 7 which encircles the axle and forms a support therefor. It will thus be seen that the axle t may rotate in its bearing 6, 7 and may also turn about thev king bolt with the frame 4, the endsl of said frame being connected with the axle, as will presently appear. Each end ofthe axle is bent, as indicatedr at 8, and

terminates in a spindle 9 which is disposed at an angle to the bent portion 8, although vthe center point of each spindle is on a line with the axis of the axle. By reason of the bending of the ends of the axle and the angu-lar'disposition of the spindles, the ground twheels 10 mounted on the spindles will always be disposed at an angle tothe axle and, if the axle be disposed at a right angle as the case may be, but if the axle be disposed obliquely at an angle of about 450 to the longitudinal medial line of the grader, the wheels will be disposed in parallel t vertical planes, as will be understood upon reference The clutch ring 12 is disposed upon the spindle immediately adjacent the bend of the axle, and it is connected through a link 13 with a second clutch ring 14 which is slidably mounted upon the axle at theV inner side of .Py the inner end of the bend 8,as clearly shown in thev drawings. lhe ends of the vtrame 4 are turned downwardly and each rigidly secured toa clutch ring 15 which is adapted to mat-e ywith the ring 14, said rings 14 and 15 ,n

having interengaging lugs 16 upon their opposedjfaces,v as will bek understood. The clutch' ring 15 is a continuous ring fitted about the axle, and itis secured by bolts 17 Vto a' support 18 which is constructed in two similar, semi-circular members adapted to -to thelongitudinal plane of the grader, the wheels will be tilted to the right or the left,

be brought together' about the axle and formed with hub sections 19 secured together by bolts 20 fitted through mating lugs there on. The down-turned ends of the frame 4 are disposed between the opposed faces of the members 15 and 18 and are rigidly securedtherein, as will be understood, so that said members-15 and 18 will be held against turning at all times. The clutch ring 14 is constructed with an external annular groove receiving the shifting ring or yoke 21 .where-V by the clutch member may be moved to or from the clutch ring 15 so as to be engaged therewith or disengaged therefrom, and, of course, the clutch ring 12 will follow the movements of the clutch ring 14 so that. the clutchmembers 11 and 12 will be disengaged when the members 14 and 15 are .engaged and vice versa'. rlhe shifting ring or yoke 21 forms a part of a lever 22 whichl is pivot'ed at its upper end to a connecting rod 23 disposed transversely of the grader and extending across the same. vThe hand Ylever 24is pivoted at its lower end upon the bracket 5 and, at an intermediate point, is pivoted to vthe connecting rod 23, so that if 'the hand lever be rocked. the 4connecting rod will be shifted endwise and the levers 22 pivoted to the ends ofthe connecting rod will be likewise rocked. The lever-24 will,l of course,

Y follow the pivotal movements of the'axle,

21nd,*'t'o accommodate the same, it iscarried upwardly through an arcuate slotV 25 in the beam 1, as shown inFig. 2. The Vtwo levers 22'must, of course, move the :respective clutch rings 14 in opposite directions, and, for this reason, l have shown the lever 22 at the righthand side of the machine as fulcrumedat its lower end upon lugs 26 on the adjacent clutch ring 15, while the left 22 at the left-hand l side of the machine is fulcrumed upon simi lar lugs 27 at the top of the adjacent clutch ring 15. The yoke or shifting ring A21' may befitted directly within theV annular groove of the clutch ring 14 but, in Fig. 4, I have V'shown the shifting ring or yoke as provided with inwardly extending radial lugs 28 engaging the groove. 28 are externalradial pins 29 which are engaged in lthe eyes ofeye-bolts 30 extending vrearwardly Afrom the pins and slidably litt-ed in ears 31 on the periphery of the clutch ring 15. expansion springs 32being disposed about the eye-bolts between Ysaid guiding ears Aand nuts 33 on lthe inner ends of the bolts,

whereby the yoke is normally held in such position that the clutch rings 14 and 15 will be engaged.

Adjacent its pivotal support, the axle V2 is formed with a crank 34, and a ring or collar 35 is mounted upon saidV crank, said collar 'having diametric-a'lly opposite studs 36 upon its outer circumference, which are pivotally engaged' by a yoke 37 formed at the rear end of a connecting bar 38 which pro- Alined with said lugsV `iects forwardly and is provided at its front endv with a smaller yoke 39. Said yoke 39 is pivotally mounted upon a collar 40 which is carried by the crank 41 formed at the inner end of a rock shaft 42 mounted in bearings Y 43 on a bracket 44 which is secured upon the `connecting bar 38 is held against movement .at-.its front end and, consequently, will per- .mit the crank 34 of the axle to move only throughra semi-circle, which will be disposed vertically at the front Vof the axis of the axle. lhenthe axle is in .the position shown in F ig. 2, with the crankhorizontal, the wheels 10 will be vertical and parallel with the grader, so that the machine vmay bevtransported overa road. If it be desired to tilt the wheels, `as when the machine is to perform work, the lever 24 is rock-ed so that the levers 22 will Amove the clutchrings 14 outwardly from the clutch rings 15, and this movement will simultaneously, ofcourse, engage the clutch ringsV v12 with the clutch rings 11. The rotation of the wheels will then be transmitted to the axleso that the axle will Vbe rotated in its bearing 6,17, and this rotation will cause thespindles 9 to tilt upwardly or downwardly, as shownin Fig. 1,

andlthe crank34 of the axle will move either upwardly or downwardly. Vhen the wheels have been brought to the desired inclination, the hand lever `24 is shifted" so that the clutches 11, 12v will be openedv and the clutches 14, 15 will hold the axle against further rotatiomwhile the wheels will be free to rotate vabout their respective spindles. 1t may be noted at this point that the axle is flat-,sided Vthrough its bent yportions but is of circular cross section at the spindles and be tween the bent portions. The crank 34 is always .vertical when the wheels are tilted, and lif the lclutches .11, 12 be maintained closed, .the forward travel Aof the machine,

assuming the wheels tobe in the position left, as shown in the drawings, and, at the end of a -third quarter of a revolution, they will be again in the position shown -in Fig. 2, while, at the end'of a complete revolution, they will be returned-to theposition shown in Figs. l and 3. lnasmuch as :the crank will be held at a fixed radial distance from the rock lshaft `42, some .pivotal movement will be imparted to the axle 2 as it is rotated, the result being that whenever the Wheels are vertical the axle Will be disposed obliquely, as shown in F ig. 2. Ordinarily, when the wheels are tilted, the axle will be at a right angle to the line of travel, but it is sometimes desirable to dispose the axle in a slightly oblique position while niaintainingtlie Wheels in tilted position and to this end, I provide the rock shaft l-2 with its crank 4l. By rocking said shaft 42, the connecting bar 38 will be shifted forwardly or backwardly, and this movement will cause the axle 2 to turn about the pivotal center provided by the ling bolt 3.

Having tliiisY described. the invention, I

fl. The combination of an axle having spinat its ends disposed at an angle-to the axis of the axle, means for permitting rotaioii of the axle, means for limiting the rotaioii, a pivotal mounting for the axle, wheels rotatably mounted upon the spindles, and

means for loe-king the wheels to the axle whereby to impart rotation thereto.

2. The combination of an axle mounted for pivotal movement and limited rotation, spindles fixed to the ends of the axle and disposed at an angle thereto, wheels mounted upon the spindles for free rotation, and .ieaiis whereby the Wheels may be locked to the axle to impart rotation to the same and rook the spindles whereby to set the Wheels in vertical or tilted positions.

3. rlhe Combination of a support, a frame mounted on the support between its-ends for pivotal turning movement, a bearing Carried by said frame, an axle fitted in said bearing whereby it may have pivotal and rotating movement, bearings for t-he axle at the ends of the frame, spindles at the ends o-f the axle disposed at an angle thereto, wheels mounted upon the spindles for free rotation, Clutch members Cooperating witlithewlieels, other Clutch members cooperating with said frame and connected with the rst-mentioned clutch members, and means for shifting said Clutch members wiereby the wheels may be caused to impart rotation to the axle or the axle Will be held against rotation.

fl. The combination of a support, a frame mounted upon the support for pivotal movement, bearings carried by said frame at the ends and at the center thereof, and axle bearings carried by said frame at its ends and at its center, an axle mounted in said bearings and having a crank portion, spindles at the ends of the axle disposed at an angle thereto,wheelsniounted on the spindles for free rotation, means for locking the Wheels to the axle whereby the axle may be Caused to rotate, a link pivotally mounted upon and extending forward from the crank port-ion of the axle, and a rock shaft having a crank engaged with the front end of said link. Y

6. The combination of an axle mounted 'for pivotal movement and for limited rotation, spindles at the ends of the axle in fixed angular relation thereto, wheels rotatable on the spindles, means whereby rotation of the wheels will shiftv the axle and spindles to set the -wheels in vertical or iii tilted position, and means for imparting a limited pivotal movenient to the axle when the wheels are vertical.

In testimony whereof l aiiix my signature.

EDWARD C. GLEDHILL. [n s] monnted in said bearings and having a crank portion, spindles at the ends of the axle disposed at an angle thereto, wheels mounted on the spindles for free rotation, means whereby the wheels may be locked to the-axle or held fre-e thereof, a link mounted at its rear end upon tlieerank portion of the axle, and: means for holding the front end of said link stationary.

5. The Combination of a support, a frame pivoted between its ends on the support, 

